When You Love Someone
by AnotherGirlWithAStory
Summary: Victoire nodded. "How come you never fell for him?" I did. Lavender thought to herself. But instead she laughed and shook her head. "He's my best friend." And I love him to bits and pieces but he will never ever want to be with me that way. I wish desperately that I had told him earlier how I felt but I did not and now I have to deal with this.


**Title** : When You Love Someone

 **Pairing** : Neville/Victoire.

 **Character** : Lavender Brown.

 **Word Count** : 2, 105

 **Prompts** : Room of Requirements, Today's the day, I'm so excited I can't wait, Reputation, Disaster, Beautiful, Dirty & Owl.

* * *

Lavender Brown walked determinedly through the hallways where she went to school. It was her second time back in years and though she wanted to act as if she felt at ease in her old school; that was not the case. It had been rebuilt. To perfection Lavender thought. But it still carried bad memories with it. Memories that sent a shiver down her back and occasionally forced her to stop whatever she was doing just to take a few deep breaths.

Her curly hair was pushed back in a lose ponytail and as she galloped back and forth between several different rooms she felt grateful that she had opted for a short dress that reached just below her knees. Who knew that organizing a wedding would be so much hard work? Stupid question, _she did_.

The first thing Lavender noticed when she came to the bride's room was that everyone was standing outside. As soon as they laid eyes on her Fleur Weasley knocked on the door and spoke. "She's here."

The door was opened as by _magic_ and Lavender painted a huge smile on her face as she walked by Fleur and the rest of the family to face the bride. The young blond before her turned around. She tilted her head and let out a sigh that made it sound as if she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Lavender knew from the moment she laid eyes on the little girl – just a few days after she had been born – that she was going to be beautiful. She had not been wrong. Victoire Weasley had gotten her mother's long hair that seemed to go on for miles. The same soft smile and the caring eyes that reminded everyone of William Weasley. It was the kind of eyes that felt as if they looked straight into your soul and saw the very core of your being.

But Victoire was not only beautiful. She was athletic. She was brilliant. She was stubborn and viciously independent. She faced every challenge with a laugh and made working through the knots of life seem easy. Lavender envied her. But she would never admit that.

Lavender smiled at her. "Today is the day. How are you feeling?"

"Like I am going to throw up." The blonde answered truthfully and let out a nervous laughter.

Lavender frowned. "That was not the answer I was looking for."

Victoire playfully rolled her eyes. "I am so excited that I cannot wait."

Lavender winked at her and gave her thumbs up. "That is much more like it." She brushed away some non-existent dust from the young girl's shoulder. "But still, what seems to be the problem?"

"Does he really love me?" The question caught Lavender of guard and Victoire noticed. Her cheeks turned into a violent shade of red.

"What makes you ask me that?" Lavender could not hold the question back. Despite knowing that it was probably for the best if she did. _The best for her anyway_.

"I am not quite sure." Victoire responded. She took a step backwards and turned around to face the mirror again. She held her hands in front of her and her eyes fell to the floor. "Maybe because this is crazy? I mean… I am marrying someone who is twenty years older than me. How can he love me?"

Lavender smiled softly. She remembered getting an owl with the urgent words I need to talk to you written across a dirty piece of parchment. It was nothing if not unlike Neville to do something that dramatic. And she went there right away. Just like she always did whenever he asked her. She had found him in the Room of Requirement, _naturally_.

He glanced up at Lavender as she entered. Then continued pacing back and forth in the room while occasionally pulling his own hair. Lavender had the question on the tip of her tongue; what is wrong? But she could tell by the way he glanced her way that she would not have to ask. She just had to wait.

"This is a disaster." Neville began eventually. "My reputation will be ruined. I will not be allowed to teach anymore if this comes out."

Lavender took a few steps closer to her friend. _That word always left a bitter taste in her mouth_. When he passed her for the second time she reached out and grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to stay put. She smiled at him as she held his hands in her own. Neville did not know it himself but he had grown and Lavender had loved watching it happen. She had seen him go from an awkward child – unsure of his own magical powers – to knowing exactly what he was capable of but without the need to show it.

The child turned became an adult. The boy became a man. A _good_ man. The man she was in love with.

"What are you on about?" she asked, trying to look him in the eyes. "What is going to come out and why can you not teach anymore if it does?"

"I kissed someone."

Lavender laughed out loud at that. "Oh, my god Neville, I thought you had done something bad. So, you kissed someone, why would that get you fired?"

"Because it was a student." He said it barely loud enough for her to hear.

Lavender took a step back. Her hands found their way to her mouth and she stared at him wide-eyed. The room was silent. So, silent that Lavender was afraid that maybe he heard the sound of her heart breaking inside her chest. She knew that could not be the case but that did not stop her from worrying.

"I know." Neville sat down on a chair behind him. He leaned his head onto the palm of his hands and let out a deep sigh. "I know."

"I did not say anything." Lavender whispered shaking her head.

Neville looked up and gave her a sad smile. "I know but I can tell that you are thinking that this is bad. You are my best friend, Lavender. _I can tell_."

 _There it was again, the word friend in combination with another dreadful word, best_.

If asked Lavender Brown could not tell what had made her fall in love with Neville Longbottom all those years ago, and she definitely could not explain when it happened. She was, after all, the last person who believed it would. Neville was not her type of guy. But she had been wrong and she had shocked herself by becoming his best friend and then gradually fall in love with him. She could not claim to be surprised by the fact that she had been wrong. She was also sure that she would have no one after being mutilated by that werewolf at the battle and she had been wrong about that too.

She could never tell anyone that she was in love with him.

She could never explain why she was in love with him.

But she could explain it to herself. Lavender became his best friend because when she woke up after the battle of Hogwarts he was there. He sat by her bed reading a newspaper. And when she asked why he was with _her_ and not someone else he gave her a crooked smile and said that she looked like she needed someone. She became his best friend because she saw how kind he was. How powerful he was and how powerful he could be. She saw him chose a different path compared to many others. She saw him return to the school that had put him through the best and the worst years of his life and she saw him blossom as he put his heart and soul into making it the best years of these children's lives. Then one day he smiled at her and everything changed. Her heart sped up and she had trouble breathing. It was not love at first sight. But her feelings had turned into love. She fell in love with her best friend.

Lavender sighed. She walked over and kneeled on the floor in front of Neville. She took his hands.

"Look at me love," she whispered and tilted her head to the side. He did as she told and Lavender could almost feel her heart break a second time when she saw those painfilled, terrified eyes. "Was it just a kiss or was it something more?"

"Something more." Neville replied. His thumb went up and down the back of her hand. He laughed bitterly. "I think I love this girl."

"Then it will be okay." Lavender smiled.

"How do you know?" Neville asked. "What if she does not love me? What if she just thinks I am some disgusting old man?"

Lavender laughed. "You are not a disgusting old man, Nev. Not for falling in love with someone younger than you. And she would be crazy not to love you. You, my friend, are amazing. If she does not see that then that would be her loss, not yours."

Neville smiled. "Thanks Lavender. I have no idea what I would do without you."

Lavender smiled. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I am going to talk to her." Neville kissed the back of her hand. "Thank you so much Lavender."

"You are very welcome." Lavender spoke to the empty room once Neville had left.

She found out later that it was Victoire he had gone on about that day. That had meant very little to Lavender. She was in love with Neville regardless of whom he chose to love and it who it was did not make her heart break any more or any less. She had put on her best smile and she had agreed to help them plan the wedding once he had proposed. And now there she was. Victoire had unknowingly put the future of her relationship in the hands of a women who loved the groom. _The irony_.

Lavender smiled and took a step forward so that she stood next to Victoire. _She was not going to ruin their wedding or their relationship_.

"He loves you." She replied nodding. "If there is one thing you never have to doubt that would be it. You see, that man out there is my best friend. I have seen him go through so much and I have seen him grow up to the man he is today. I have seen him be in relationships and I have seen him be single. But I have never seen him look at a woman the way he looks at you."

"Really?"

"Really!"

Victoire nodded. "How come you never fell for him?"

 _I did_. Lavender thought to herself. But instead she laughed and shook her head. "He's my best friend." _And I love him to bits and pieces but he will never ever want to be with me that way. I wish desperately that I had told him earlier how I felt but I did not and now I have to deal with this_. "So, are you ready to get married now or do I need to come up with another motivational speech?"

Victoire laughed. "No, thank you though Lavender. I want to talk to my mother."

Lavender nodded. "I will send her in."

She walked out the room and told Fleur that her daughter wanted to see her and then she continued down the hallway. She smiled and she laughed. She showed people where they were going and explained time and time again where the food was going to be and how the decorations were supposed to look like. She did it because Neville was first and foremost her best friend and not the person she was in love with. She did it because he asked her to help them plan and execute the wedding and because she could not say no when he looked at her with those beautiful eyes of his. She did it despite the fact that it broke her heart because there was very little she would not do for him. She did it all without complaining. And then Lavender watched him – her best friend and the love of her life – get married.

She did it because when you love someone your own needs do not matter. And because when Neville smiled he looked like the happiest person in the world. She could never take that away from him. Even if she did love him; because that's what you do when you love someone.

 **The end**


End file.
